Deuteronomy 4-6

Deuteronomy 4

¹And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, giveth you.

²Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

³Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from the midst of thee.

⁴But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.

⁵Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it.

⁶Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

⁷For what great nation is there, that hath a god so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is whensoever we call upon him?

⁸And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

⁹Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but make them known unto thy children and thy children’s children;

¹⁰the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

¹¹And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

¹²And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice.

¹³And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

¹⁴And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

¹⁵Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of form on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

¹⁶lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

¹⁷the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the heaven,

¹⁸the likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth:

¹⁹and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all the peoples under the whole heaven.

²⁰But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as at this day.

²¹Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance:

²²but I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

²³Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image in the form of any thing which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

²⁴For the LORD thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.

²⁵When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image in the form of any thing, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:

²⁶I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

²⁷And the LORD shall scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither the LORD shall lead you away.

²⁸And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

²⁹But if from thence ye shall seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou search after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

³⁰When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days thou shalt return to the LORD thy God, and hearken unto his voice:

³¹for the LORD thy God is a merciful God; he will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

³²For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

³³Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

³⁴Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

³⁵Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.

³⁶Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he made thee to see his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

³⁷And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;

³⁸to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as at this day.

³⁹Know therefore this day, and lay it to thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

⁴⁰And thou shalt keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.

⁴¹Then Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan toward the sunrising;

⁴²that the manslayer might flee thither, which slayeth his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in time past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:

⁴³namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

⁴⁴And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

⁴⁵these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt;

⁴⁶beyond Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, when they came forth out of Egypt:

⁴⁷and they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, which were beyond Jordan toward the sunrising;

⁴⁸from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, even unto mount Sion (the same is Hermon),

⁴⁹and all the Arabah beyond Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

Deuteronomy 5

¹And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and observe to do them.

²The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

³The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

⁴The LORD spake with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,

⁵(I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid because of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

⁶I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

⁷Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

⁸Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, the likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

⁹thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me;

¹⁰and shewing mercy unto thousands, of them that love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

¹²Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD thy God commanded thee.

¹³Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

¹⁴but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

¹⁵And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

¹⁶Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God commanded thee: that thy days may be long, and that it may go well with thee, upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

¹⁷Thou shalt do no murder.

¹⁸Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

¹⁹Neither shalt thou steal.

²⁰Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

²¹Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s wife; neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

²²These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them upon two tables of stone, and gave them unto me.

²³And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain did burn with fire, that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

²⁴and ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth speak with man, and he liveth.

²⁵Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.

²⁶For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

²⁷Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

²⁸And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.

²⁹Oh that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

³⁰Go say to them, Return ye to your tents.

³¹But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandment, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.

³²Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

³³Ye shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

Deuteronomy 6

¹Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it:

²that thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

³Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD, the God of thy fathers, hath promised unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD:

⁵and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

⁶And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine heart:

⁷and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

⁸And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.

⁹And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.

¹⁰And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee; great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,

¹¹and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and cisterns hewn out, which thou hewedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not, and thou shalt eat and be full;

¹²then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

¹³Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; and him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by his name.

¹⁴Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples which are round about you;

¹⁵for the LORD thy God in the midst of thee is a jealous God; lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and he destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

¹⁶Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

¹⁷Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

¹⁸And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,

¹⁹to thrust out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.

²⁰When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?

²¹then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:

²²and the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his house, before our eyes:

²³and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

²⁴And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.

²⁵And it shall be righteousness unto us, if we observe to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.